Potter pays tribute to visitors

Bradford coach Mick Potter thought his side were simply beaten by the better team as they began their Stobart Super League season with defeat to the Catalan Dragons.

The Dragons ran in six tries to Bradford's two to record an impressive 34-12 victory at Odsal. Potter admitted that his side's lack of physicality was a little worrying, but was happy to give credit where it was due to Trent Robinson's side.

"We were beat down the middle so it does worry us," Potter said.

"There were times where we showed a bit of fight but overall the other team got the better of us. They're a good strong team and they were just a little too big and a little bit too strong for us.

"They're strong all across the park so they've got depth in numbers and quality so they'll be a team that'll be tough to beat."

The game was in danger of being postponed as several inches of snow lay on the Odsal pitch. But volunteers helped to clear the snow from in and around the ground and Potter hailed those who ensured the clash was not postponed.

He added: "It was probably good that we got the game on given that there was probably about 15cm of snow on the ground; I think there was a whole heap of volunteers who came down and tried to clear the pitch and make it playable.

"It wasn't a bad surface underneath so credit to a lot of people around the club and just some volunteers who came down to help us get the game on."

Catalan coach Robinson paid special tribute to his side's defending. There were spells in either half where Bradford looked capable of fighting their way back into the match, but the Catalan line held firm.

Despite Jamie Langley and Elliot Kear grabbing consolation tries for the hosts, Robinson said: "I didn't find it easy. I thought we worked really hard on our defence to get that feeling in attack. Our attack was patchy at times but I thought our defence was pretty solid."